With so much going on with children today, it is not easy to talk to them about sexuality without them finding out as much as possible. However, it is important to talk to your children about sexuality in order to accompany them as they discover it. To this end, a few tips along these lines have been put together for you.
Teach your children the right terms
Most parents, when they are children, express themselves to their children in a very familiar register which, over time, remains unchanged. In other words, instead of ‘penis’, ‘vulva’, ‘vagina’, parents say ‘wee-wee’, ‘wee-wee’ or ‘fanny’, which is not good. However, you should teach them the right words earlier, just as you teach them about other parts of the body (nose, mouth, eyes, feet, etc.) without insisting on genitalia. But if you use inappropriate terms for these parts, as soon as they learn from others to identify them with words other than what you have taught them, it will cause discomfort in them. The sooner the better.
Communicate with your children in confidence
In this calibre of teaching, there are several moments that can be very appropriate to address these topics. It may come from the child’s intuition to ask questions; which they will bring to you. For example, << where do babies come from? >> , << why don’t all children have the same sex? >> … To do this, you need to listen to him significantly, build up his confidence and be very open to him. Avoid lines like: << Where did you learn that? >>, he might feel embarrassed until he thinks he has offended you. If you feel unable to answer a question, tell him in a very affectionate tone that you don’t know too much, but that you will get back to him. This will make them trust you more and feel comfortable talking to you.
Give children real, age-appropriate information
When your child asks you about sex, pay close attention to avoid telling them more than they should know. And if you have to answer, get them to talk about it first by asking them, for example, what they think about it, what they already know about it. This way you can already assess his level of knowledge, compare it to what you know and now sort out what you should serve him as an answer and what he should know at his age. Keep your answers simple and short; he will question you more if he wants to know more.